Thursday saw the introduction of their English creative writing project by Mrs Bratt which was an ongoing theme throughout the week. Friday consisted of a fantastic day down at Poldhu Beach looking at some survival physics and creating beach art. This was followed by a geography debate run by Mr Francis centred around the Dean Super Quarry proposals which are currently a big topic in the local area. This was topped off with an unexpected visit from the current local MP, Derek Thomas, who visited the café and agreed to speak to our pupils to give them an ‘on the ground’ view about the quarry. A visit to the RNLI Lizard rounded off the day with a look around the lifeboat and a chance to try on the equipment. Saturday was a long day, starting at 5.45am so everyone could appreciate sunrise on the beach. A visit to Coverack Beach followed with an outstanding biology lesson from Mr Donnelly covering all the plant and animal life found in the rock pools. This was followed by some exciting sea cliff climbing at Rinsey Head where there were some great personal achievements and fears conquered. Miss Telford then rounded off the day with some further work on the English stories before another delicious meal was provided by Old Mount Kelleian family, the Jourdans, of Fat Apples Café. Having watched England lose the rugby in the last few minutes it was then bedtime ready for another big day on Sunday. Sunday was spent surfing at Coverack Beach where the waves were just perfect for beginners to learn with the majority of pupils getting to standing within the first hour of the session! A number of pupils described this as ’the best activity ever!’ This was rotated with a visit to the Marconi Centre back at Poldhu where pupils had the chance to communicate with people in Italy via morse code and also learn about the first transatlantic radio signal which introduced everything from broadcasting to satellite communications, mobile phones and the internet. Some chilled time on the beach was also enjoyed, building sandcastles and working on their performances for the evening’s entertainment. A BBQ rounded off the LOTC weekend which was certainly enjoyed by all and topped off with some very entertaining pieces performed by each of the groups.Monday was the final day for the Year 9s in Cornwall and they visited RNAS Culdrose organised by Lt Cdr Craig Whitson-Fay to see how 750 squadron train their observers and how important maths is to this role. Five lucky students in each group had the chance to go up in one of the training aircraft and enjoy an hour’s flight which took them over Tavistock with a chance to see the Mount Kelly Foundation site from the air. The others spent the morning or afternoon completing a mission set by 750 Squadron to save Cornwall from being blown up – by destroying two boats which had been commandeered by pirates and threatened to blow up a number of oil rigs in the area! A chance to experience being a pilot in one of the simulators showed the pupils how important concentration and quick mental arithmetic is in order to do this very important job. With the mission successfully completeThanks must go to all of the MK staff involved and especially to the Jourdan family at Fat Apples Café for providing such a great experience and food throughout the weekend.
